[37] Bill 5 As Amended by Standing Committee (PDF)
Bill 5 2002
An Act to amend the Audit Act to insure greater accountability of
hospitals,
universities and colleges, municipalities
and other organizations which receive
grants or other transfer payments from the government or agencies of the
Crown
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
1. (0.1) The definition of "Assistant Auditor" in section 1 of the Audit Act is repealed and the following substituted:
"Deputy Auditor" means the Deputy Auditor General; ("Sous-vérificateur")
(1) The definition of "inspection audit" in section 1 of the Act is repealed.
(2) Section 1 of the Act is amended by adding the following definitions:
"audit" includes an examination of the matters mentioned in clause 12 (2) (f); ("vérification")
"grant recipient" means an association, authority, board, commission, corporation, council, foundation, institution, organization or other body that receives, directly or indirectly, a payment in the form of a grant or other transfer payment from Ontario, an agency of the Crown or a Crown controlled corporation; ("bénéficiaire d'une subvention")
(3) The definitions of "Auditor" and "Office of the Auditor" in section 1 of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:
"Auditor" means the Auditor General; ("Vérificateur")
"Office of the Auditor" means the Office of the Auditor General; ("Bureau du Vérificateur")
1.1 The Act is amended by adding the following section:
References to former names
1.1 A reference in an Act, regulation, order in council or document to a person or office by the former title of that person or the former name of that office set out in Column 1 of the following Table or by a shortened version of that title or name shall be deemed, unless a contrary intention appears, to be a reference to the new title of that person or the new name of that office set out in Column 2:
|
Column 1 Former titles and names |
Column 2 New titles and names |
|
Assistant Provincial Auditor |
Deputy Auditor |
|
Office of the Provincial Auditor |
Office of the Auditor General |
|
Provincial Auditor |
Auditor General |
1.2 Section 2 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Office of the Auditor
2. The Office of the Auditor General shall consist of the Auditor, the Deputy Auditor and such employees as the Auditor General may require for the proper conduct of the business of the Office.
1.3 The following provisions of the Act are amended by striking out "Assistant Auditor" wherever that expression occurs and substituting in each case "Deputy Auditor":
1. Section 6.
2. Section 7.
3. Section 8.
2. Section 10 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Duty to furnish information
10. (1) Every ministry of the public service, every agency of the Crown, every Crown controlled corporation and every grant recipient shall furnish the Auditor with the information regarding its powers, duties, activities, organization, financial transactions and methods of business that the Auditor requires.
Access to records
(2) The Auditor shall have free access to all books, accounts, financial records, electronic data processing records, reports, files and all other papers, things or property belonging to or used by the ministry, agency of the Crown, Crown controlled corporation or grant recipient, as the case may be, that the Auditor considers necessary to perform duties under this Act.
No obstruction of Auditor
(3) No person shall obstruct the Auditor or a member of the Office of the Auditor in the performance of an audit or conceal or destroy any books, papers, documents or things relevant to the subject-matter of the audit.
Offence
(4) Every grant recipient who knowingly contravenes subsection (3) and, if the grant recipient is a corporation, every director and officer of the corporation who knowingly concurs in the contravention is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to,
(a) a fine of not more than $2,000 or imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or both, if the person is not a corporation; or
(b) a fine of not more than $25,000, if the person is a corporation.
2.1 The Act is amended by adding the following section:
Accommodation in grant recipient
11.1 For the purposes of exercising powers or performing duties under this Act, the Auditor may station one or more members of the Office of the Auditor in a grant recipient and the grant recipient shall provide the accommodation required for the purposes of this section.
2.2 Clause 12 (2) (c) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
(c) the examination of the summary financial statements of Ontario as reported in the Public Accounts and shall express an opinion as to whether the summary financial statements of Ontario as reported in the Public Accounts are presented fairly in accordance with appropriate accounting principles as recommended for governments by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants;
2.3 Clause 12 (2) (f) of the Act is amended by striking out "agencies of the Crown or Crown controlled corporations" in the portion before subclause (i) and substituting "agencies of the Crown, Crown controlled corporations or grant recipients".
3. Section 13 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Audit of grant recipient
13. (1) The Auditor may audit a grant recipient to the extent that the Auditor considers necessary and may require the recipient to prepare and to submit to the Auditor a financial statement that sets out the details of the disposition that the recipient made of the grant or other transfer payment that it received.
Time of receiving payment
(2) The Auditor may audit a grant recipient under subsection (1) in respect of a grant or other transfer payment that the recipient has in its possession on or after the day subsection (1) comes into force, even if the recipient received the grant or other transfer payment before subsection (1) comes into force.
4. Section 14 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Examination on oath
14. (1) The Auditor may examine any person on oath on any matter pertinent to the performance of the Auditor's duties under this Act.
Powers of Auditor
(2) For the purpose of the examination, the Auditor has the powers that Part II of the Public Inquiries Act confers on a commission, and that Part applies to the examination as if it were an inquiry under that Act.
4.1 Section 20 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Staff
20. Subject to the approval of the Board and to sections 22, 25 and 26, the Auditor may,
(a) employ the professional staff and other persons that the Auditor considers necessary for the efficient operation of the Office of the Auditor; and
(b) determine the salaries and the terms and conditions of employment of the Deputy Auditor and the other employees of the Office of the Auditor.
4.2 Clause 21 (1) (a) of the Act is amended by striking out "Provincial Auditor" and substituting "Auditor General".
4.3 Subsections 22 (1) and (2) of the Act are amended by striking out "Assistant Auditor" wherever that expression occurs and substituting in each case "Deputy Auditor".
4.4 Section 26 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Conduct and discipline
26. (1) The Auditor may make orders and rules for the conduct of the internal business of the Office of the Auditor and, subject to this section, may for cause suspend, demote or dismiss an employee of the Office of the Auditor or may release an employee of the Office of the Auditor.
Application of Public Service Act
(2) The provisions of the Public Service Act and the regulations made under it that apply where a deputy minister exercises powers under section 22 of that Act, except the requirement for a deputy minister to give notice to or to obtain the approval of the Civil Service Commission, apply with necessary modifications, as if the Auditor were a deputy minister, where the Auditor for cause suspends, demotes or dismisses an employee of the Office of the Auditor or releases an employee of the Office of the Auditor.
Grievances
(3) An employee whom the Auditor for cause suspends, demotes or dismisses may file a grievance with respect to the Auditor's decision.
Application of Public Service Act
(4) The provisions of the regulations made under the Public Service Act that apply in relation to a grievance mentioned in those regulations apply with necessary modifications to a grievance mentioned in subsection (3) as if the Auditor were a deputy minister.
5. (1) Subsection 27 (1) of the Act is amended by striking out "Assistant Auditor" and substituting "Deputy Auditor".
(2) Subsection 27 (2) of the Act is repealed.
6. The Act is amended by adding the following section:
Information confidential
27.1 (1) The Auditor, the Deputy Auditor and each person employed in the Office of the Auditor or appointed to assist the Auditor for a limited period of time or in respect of a particular matter shall preserve secrecy with respect to all matters that come into the person's knowledge in the course of employment or duties under this Act and shall not communicate the matters to any person, except as is required in connection with the administration of this Act or a proceeding under it or the Criminal Code (Canada).
Personal information
(2) No person shall collect or retain personal information on behalf of the Auditor unless the Auditor determines that it is necessary for the proper administration of this Act or a proceeding under it.
Retention of information
(3) If the Auditor retains information relating to the medical, psychiatric or physiological history of an individual or relating to an individual's health care or well-being, the Auditor shall,
(a) remove all references in the information to the name of the individual and any other identifying information;
(b) retain the information by using a system of identification at source that separates out personal and confidential identifiers from generic information by the user;
(c) ensure that the information is not,
(i) disclosed to any person who is not authorized to have access to the information,
(ii) used or disclosed for any purpose not directly related to the Auditor's duties under this Act,
(iii) published or distributed in any manner that would allow the identity of the individual to whom the information relates to be ascertained or inferred, and
(iv) combined, linked or matched with any other information if the result could be the identification of the individual to whom the information relates, unless the combining, linking or matching is necessary, in the opinion of the Auditor, in order for the Auditor to perform his or her duties under this Act.
Definition
(4) In this section,
"personal information" means personal information within the meaning of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Complementary Amendments
6.1 The Acts named in Column 1 of the Table are amended by striking out "Provincial Auditor" wherever that expression occurs in the provisions set out opposite them in Column 2 and substituting in each case "Auditor General".
|
TABLE |
|
|
COLUMN 1 |
COLUMN 2 |
|
Act |
Provision |
|
AgriCorp Act, 1996 |
section 13 |
|
Agricultural Rehabilitation and Development Act (Ontario) |
subsection 7 (1), section 8 |
|
Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario Act |
section 6 |
|
Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Research Foundation Act |
section 16 |
|
Algonquin Forestry Authority Act |
section 18 in the portion before clause (a), clause 18 (b) |
|
Arts Council Act |
section 11 |
|
Cancer Act |
section 12 |
|
Capital Investment Plan Act, 1993 |
subsections 13 (1) and (2) |
|
Centennial Centre of Science and Technology Act |
section 9 |
|
Community Psychiatric Hospitals Act |
subsection 4 (8) |
|
Courts of Justice Act |
subsection 89 (9) |
|
Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Act, 1994 |
subsection 257 (2) |
|
Crown Foundations Act, 1996 |
subsection 16 (2) |
|
Development Corporations Act |
section 26 |
|
Education Quality and Accountability Office Act, 1996 |
subsection 24 (3) |
|
Election Act |
subsection 113 (6) |
|
Election Finances Act |
section 8 |
|
Electricity Act, 1998 |
section 80 |
|
Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993 |
section 56 |
|
Environmental Protection Act |
section 120 |
|
Farm Products Payments Act |
subsection 5 (7) |
|
Financial Administration Act |
subsection 11 (3) and paragraph 3 of subsection 11.4 (2) |
|
Financial Services Commission of Ontario Act, 1997 |
section 14 |
|
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act |
subsection 9 (2) |
|
GO Transit Act, 2001 |
subsection 13 (2) |
|
Legal Aid Services Act, 1998 |
subsection 65 (3) |
|
Legislative Assembly Act |
subsection 83 (3), sections 86 and 91 |
|
Liquor Control Act |
section 6 |
|
Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre Corporation Act |
subsection 12 (3) |
|
Ministry of Treasury and Economics Act |
clause 13 (2) (c) |
|
Niagara Parks Act |
section 19 |
|
Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Act |
section 8 |
|
Ombudsman Act |
section 10 |
|
Ontario Agricultural Museum Act |
section 13 |
|
Ontario Educational Communications Authority Act |
section 11 |
|
Ontario Food Terminal Act |
section 10 |
|
Ontario Heritage Act |
section 16 |
|
Ontario Housing Corporation Act |
section 12 |
|
Ontario Mental Health Foundation Act |
sections 12 and 25 |
|
Ontario Northland Transportation Commission Act |
section 39 |
|
Ontario Place Corporation Act |
section 13 |
|
Ottawa Congress Centre Act |
subsection 12 (3) |
|
Pay Equity Act |
Schedule, clause 1 (h) |
|
Public Guardian and Trustee Act |
section 17 |
|
Racing Commission Act, 2000 |
section 14 |
|
Securities Act |
subsection 3.9 (4) |
|
Social Contract Act, 1993 |
subsection 9 (2) |
|
St. Clair Parks Commission Act, 2000 |
subsection 11 (3) |
|
St. Lawrence Parks Commission Act |
section 16 |
|
Toronto Area Transit Operating Authority Act |
section 12 |
|
Toronto Islands Residential Community Stewardship Act, 1993 |
subsection 12 (12) |
|
University Foundations Act, 1992 |
subsection 9 (2) |
|
Waterfront Regeneration Trust Agency Act, 1992 |
subsection 13 (3) |
|
Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 |
subsections 168 (3) and 169 (1) |
6.2 (1) The amendments to the Agricultural Rehabilitation and Development Act (Ontario), set out in the Table to section 6.1, do not apply if subsection 1 (2) of Schedule J to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Statute Law Amendment Act, 1996 has come into force.
(2) The amendment to the Environmental Protection Act, set out in the Table to section 6.1, does not apply if section 2 of the Environmental Approvals Improvement Act, 1997 has come into force.
Commencement
7. This Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
Short title
8. The short title of this Act is the Audit Statute Law Amendment Act, 2002.
This reprint of the Bill is marked to indicate the changes that were made in Committee.
Marginal side bars in the outer margin indicate that either a provision
has been replaced, a new provision has been added or that there has been a
change within a provision in either or both the English and French version of
the bill. The changes are indicated by underlines for new text and a
strikethrough for deleted text.
______________
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Bill changes the title of the Provincial Auditor to the Auditor General and the title of the Assistant Auditor to the Deputy Auditor.
The Auditor General is authorized to carry out audits of grant recipients and to have access to the financial records of Crown agencies, grant recipients and Crown controlled corporations in order to carry out his or her functions under the Audit Act. Other amendments to the Act make it an offence to obstruct the Auditor in the performance of his or her duties, allow the Auditor to examine people under oath and require information to be kept confidential.